5 Time Management Tips. Let’s have happy working days!

I find myself in a situation: these days I find it hard to organize my time. Last month I worked as much, until 10 in the evening and still managed to write an article per day and discover underrated articles. But really, I was exhausted. I became a kind of a robot, and now when I think back I can’t figure out how I managed to work all the time.

Now I became tired and I get frustrated easily at the thought that I don’t manage to do every thing that I want or I should. I don’t intend to be a feminist, but it’s hard for a woman to work, to handle household chores, to cook, to practice a hobby and, at the same time, to take care of the way she looks, to care for her body.

However, the advantage of a freelancer should be just that, the fact that I can organize my work the way I want to, in my advantage. So I realized that probably because I am tired, I don’t manage time well enough.

For example, I am the kind that loses a lot of time on small details. So if I have a picture to edit or something to create, the time, which I initially attributed to the task, stretches considerably. But recently, I came across a very good idea: to assign a time for each task, put my timer and try as hard as I can to finish. I did that today and besides the fact that I finished faster, I was even more jovial, seeing this thing as a kind of competition between me and the clock.

But still, it’s not enough. At 10 pm I was still working. So I decided to search on the Internet more ideas and starting by tomorrow, I will put them into practice. I think they are quite effective, so I want to share them with you, although perhaps many of you already knew them. I also knew them, but sometimes I am stupidly stubborn.

1. Plan your tasks for the day.

Superficially, I am already doing this. I write on a sticker tasks that I have, but I don’t always check off the accomplished tasks and I do not always finish them all. Sometimes during the day others are added, so I may remove one one task from the original list, postponing it for the next day. But the next day other tasks arise.

The conclusion? Tomorrow I will write on a large sheet, instead of a small sticker, my goals for each day. I will check them off, as I accomplish them and I will strive to keep to my original plan.

2. When you make the plan, prioritize.

Yes, sometimes we choose to do first the task which is easier and not necessarily the one that is more important. We are sometimes running away from our responsibilities, this lies in our human nature.

So I will not only write the tasks in big and bold letters, I will also put numbers before them, to make an order and prioritize them.

3. Focus

When it comes to this, I think I am too focused. Sometimes I become like a robot, whom the stop button broke down. I often ignore what is happening around me, I put my headphones on and I actually disappear from the environment I was part of before.

But what is too much, it’s not good. So we will move on to the next advice.

4. Take short and frequent breaks

I sometimes get a break only to eat once in the middle of the day, then get back to work. Other times, when I’m too stressed, I take a break to eat, but it lasts 5 times longer than usual.

It is wrong to spend too much time in a break because you lose the momentum and the concentration. Similarly, it is not good to work continuously. You become stressed, you lose energy, so you become ineffective.

In conclusion, starting by tomorrow I’ll take exercise breaks. Yes, exercise, because I want to lose weight and I always find excuses, like not having enough time. So I will kill two birds with one stone.

5. Start the day early

Okay, this is going to be really hard. I’m not a morning person, never have been. I don’t even dare to say that tomorrow I will do this one, it would mean to lie. Instead, I will try.

Currently, the period of time in which I’m awake it is between 10 pm and 4 am. Perhaps it would be enough to wake up very early few days, in order to get to bed earlier. But this also requires fewer tasks, because I’ll probably be ineffective. But I am aware that it would help, so I’ll try.

That fact that I fail to organize my time efficiently results in not having enough time for me, which in turn leads to frustration. Besides the fact that I am not relaxed enough, those around me and they too have to suffer.

You can no longer enjoy as much the other person when you’re stressed. So you I’ll make all of these changes, I will relax and become again that Diana, the one who is always smiling and is an optimist by nature.

Images credit: Magalie Foutrier

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